


Break on Through (to the Other Side)

by bearinapotatosack



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Demonic Possession, Demons, Depression, Drinking, Drinking to Cope, Eventual Smut, Fear, Flashbacks, Fluff, Hallucinations, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, M/M, Multi, No Incest, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Swearing, Training, Vietnam War, phantoms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2020-05-19 17:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19361119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearinapotatosack/pseuds/bearinapotatosack
Summary: Klaus explores his powers, the positives, the negatives and everything in between. But how will he deal with them when he conjures something unwanted, and everything he built up comes crashing down...





	1. Reconciliation

Klaus hobbled away from the concrete corridor, his hands were shaking, he passed it off as withdrawal but Ben knew what they were shaking for. _‘How could he?’_ the image of Vanya banging against the glass of the door was swirling around his head. _‘He’s just like Dad, locking away anyone who threatened him, with any pathetic excuse he thought of,’_ Klaus turned his head to the side, apparently Ben had been talking.  
  
“Klaus!” He physically calmed when he saw his brother look at him and continued. “What are we gonna do now, we can’t just leave her in there?”  
  
“Gimme a second, Ben, I’m thinking!”  
  
He drummed his fingers against his arms but all his mind could come up with was Vanya’s terrified face and the mausoleum that defined his childhood. With a huff, he stopped in the hallway, mind glittering with an idea.  
  
“Did you see where Diego went?” Klaus asked the ghost, who merely shrugged and pointed towards the stairs to the kitchen vaguely. “Thanks for the detailed explanation, bro,” Ben rolled his eyes and followed Klaus down the stairs.  


* * *

As the sound of sizzling came to their ears, the brothers entered the kitchen and saw the picturesque scene that, to a stranger, would’ve given the illusion that the Hargreeves were a perfect family.  Their mum was standing over the old-fashioned stove, making pancakes, and Diego was hunched patiently at the table.  
  
When he heard the sound of Klaus entering, he lifted his head curiously, about to ask a question. Klaus raised a hand, intercepting whatever he was going to say by his own request.  
  
“Can you help me get Vanya out?” Diego raised an eyebrow, he too had been shocked at Luther’s actions. “I can’t just leave her there and now that Luther and Allison are having their little disagreement, we have a chance to get her out,”  
  
“Are you sure, what if he finds out and does something,” His eyes widened before he snapped. “Not that I’m s-scared of him or any-anything,”  
  
Klaus gave him a knowing look before he walked towards him and put a hand gently on his shoulder. “I’m scared, of Luther sometimes, of this apocalypse, or if we fail that I may not die,” Diego’s eyes flooded with fear and compassion, he was never good at hiding his fear. “I’ll tell you later,”  
  
“Wha-“  
  
“But we’ve got to understand that Luther’s so confused, he never got betrayed like we all did, he’s spent all his life being Dad’s slave and what did he get from it? Nothing but pain,” Klaus realised that his hands were shaking again, vision blurring just a touch; he took a deep breath and continued. “What he’s doing is shitty and wrong, but if we can get through to him and really bring the family together for the first time ever then we’ll really be helping everyone, yeah?”  
  
“Yeah,” Diego stood up, towering slightly over his brother, and walked over to, their Mom to tell her where they were going- his love for her really was adorable. The makeshift team left the kitchen and headed to the horrible corridor to break out their sister.  


* * *

  
The concrete was cold around him, Ben was trailing behind him with his hands in his pockets like always, except this time he had a look of determination on his youngish face. Klaus’ hands were stuck to his crossed arms once more as he battled with poisonous memories and the imminent feeling of claustrophobia.  
  
“You okay, Klaus?” Ben’s smooth voice broke his train of thought, their eyes met over Klaus’ shoulder as he nodded to assure the ghost.  
  
They carried on down the corridor as the amber lights shone and disappeared from their view above them. A thick cold atmosphere bounced off the walls around them, Klaus could see Diego shivering next to him. With a gasp, the group reached the metal arch-way and peered into the small metal window.  
  
”Christ on a cracker!” Klaus exclaimed, hand rising to cover his mouth as he took in the picture. Vanya had collapsed, possibly from exhaustion, possibly from crying. “We need to get this door open, right away!”  
  
”No shit, Sherlock, ” Diego muttered under his breath, beginning to attempt to turn the rusted metal wheel on the door. For a few minutes, all that could be heard was the soft wheezing of the vigilante as he struggled to budge the cold metal wheel.  
  
Ben and Klaus shared a look, thinking the same thing as Klaus felt a long tingling shudder feeling shoot down his spine. ”Want some help there?” He tried to laugh at the end, the suffocating tension in the air filling his lungs like chlorine gas and deluding his mind even further with pressure.  
  
Diego looked at him as if to say, _‘Are you serious?’_ before shuffling to the side slightly and pushing again once Klaus’ hands were securely on the wheel. After a few minutes of huffing and struggling, they heard the short squeal of the door and pushed it open.  
  
Inside, Vanya twitched in her sleep and rolled over, minutely opening her eyes before scrambling up upon seeing her two siblings. Her face lit up slightly like a child on Christmas as she ran out of the rusty door.

“Diego! Klaus!” She hugged them both strongly, Klaus could feel her joy and relief buzzing off her as she broke off the hug. “Thank you for getting me out, you don’t know how sorry I am for Allison,”

“We saw, Luther was being a dick, he should’ve listened to all of us and we should’ve talked everything through instead of him channelling his hurt through you,” Klaus chuckled to lighten the mood, Vanya flinched minutely at the mention of Number One’s name. Diego lightly rubbed her back as the group returned back down the corridor and up the stairs to the kitchen.

* * *

As they entered the kitchen, their sister anxiously looked around for Luther, slowing down and hesitating as the group heard the gentle sizzling of the stove. She calmed down once she’d finished her checks and pulled out a chair as Grace placed three plates of pancakes in front of each of them.

“I’m going to make some hot chocolate, who wants some?” All three shot their hands up, Klaus was half tempted to ask for a mug for Ben before remembering that he had never liked the stuff- he always preferred teas of all sorts. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you so happy, Vanya,”

The trio all looked peculiarly at their mother, ‘ _Maybe Reggie’s death really did affect her,_ ’ Klaus pondered as he tucked into his pancakes and sipped the glorious looking hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows that had been placed in front of him.

“Wow, you’re actually eating,” Ben snapped from his seat on the table. “Must be a blue moon, I’ll check if any pigs are flying,”

“Oh shut it, Ben, I thought you’d be proud of me for eating!”

“I am!”

“Then why aren’t you showing it?” Klaus threw down his knife and fork dramatically to add to his act of anger. “You’re always saying I should eat more,”

Ben scoffed and rolled his eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets as he did so. Klaus carried on eating after their little ordeal only to notice his siblings looking up at him, puzzled.

Vanya opened her mouth and closed it again, obviously thinking of what to say. Eventually she decided what to say, “You really see Ben everywhere?” Klaus shared a look with his guardian-ghostie as he went through the conversation he’d had so many times that he practically memorised how it would go.

“Yup, he’s always with me, guess it’s because we’re siblings and all,” Diego knew this, he knew a lot about Klaus compared to everyone else, not as much as you’d expect a sibling to know but a lot for the Hargreeves.

“How often do you see him?”

“Oh, through everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything,” He grinned cheekily and winked Ben’s way as he watched his cheeks flare up with embarrassment. “He knows things about me no sibling should know, like the time I spent three days tied to a bed with four other people having se-,”

“Okay we get the p-picture!” Diego waved his hand to stop his brother, not wanting to know what or rather who Klaus did for fun.

“Yeah, you said yourself that no sibling should know what Ben knows,” Vanya laughed, laughed in a way that none of them had ever really seen before. Despite how far apart they were, all Klaus and Diego wanted for Vanya was happiness. Their faces dropped as they finished laughing, their sister carried on. “Is it nice to have him around?”

Ben looked endearingly at Klaus who was beginning to collect the memories of him and Ben from over the years.

“I guess, I mean it’s nice to have someone with me when I’m feeling alone and he can be my own personal cheerleader,” Klaus chuckled to himself and looked down, not wanting to see Ben’s reaction out of embarrassment. “He can be a bitch sometimes, for twelve years straight all I’ve heard is ‘ _Why don’t you get sober Klaus? Think of what you could do while sober?_ ’”

“I do not sound like that,” Ben snapped, making Klaus’ tone seem like the biggest problem in the world.

“You so do!”

“No I don’t! You’d think after twelve years you’d know what I sound like,”

“I think you should start talking like that, it’d make your droning more interesting,”

Diego and Vanya looked amused but still confused as they shrugged Klaus’ conversation off and went onto a different conversation topic. After a while, Grace placed for mugs of hot chocolate in front of her children. The group all sighed at the smell their mom’s fresh cocoa, they collectively slurped and let out a sigh of relief as Vanya said.

“You do make the best cocoa, Mom,”

* * *

It had been around two hours, Diego, Klaus and Vanya had long finished their cocoa and had begun to snack on some grapes. All was well, just then, just for a while.

But of course, this didn’t last for long. Of course, their little slice of peace had to he destroyed; had to be shattered into a million pieces.

Luther came storming down the stairs only to be closely followed by Allison, their row clearly going on. For a moment, they didn’t notice, just walked past their siblings as Allison quickly scrawled in her notebook and Luther spluttered a pathetic response.

A silence grew. Both had either given up or ran out of arguments. And that’s when he saw Vanya.

“What. Is. She. Doing. Here?”

Everyone drew their eyes from whatever they were doing and hesitantly peered at Luther. Klaus knew exactly what was going to happen, they’d all shout, Klaus would try to defend Vanya and would get ignored- the usual.

Instead, he stood up, getting a quick glance from Ben as he hopped up to join his brother. They got as far as the stairs before the group noticed his absence, a shock to both Klaus and Ben.

“Ugh,” He turned to face his siblings, giving an accentuated eye roll as he did so. “I know what you’re gonna say!”

“Where are you going?” Luther shot, the anger in his voice bolted through the air and sent tingles up Klaus’ spine. “Can’t you get drugs another tim-“

Ben shoved his hands in his pockets and they shared a look that said, ‘ _Should we bother to go through this again?_ ’. Klaus folded his arms, flooding the tense atmosphere with his own attitude.

“I’m not going to get drugs, I’m going for a walk,”

“Well, you can go for a walk later, we’re talking about this now,” Luther focused his anger and lack of patience onto his brother, not seeing how done he was. “Was it you who let her out?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Don’t you know how dangerous she is?”

“Yes.”

“And you still let her out?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

With another sigh, Klaus dropped his face into his hands, “Because she’s our sister, our father was a dick and whatever you saw in his little notebook was clearly biased and wrong,” He took a deep breath, determined to not let Luther but in. “Vanya is sweet and caring and just felt threatened because she was in a relationship with the biggest fuckwad on the planet,”

“But-“

“And what she did is far more forgivable than what you did.”

He stared down his brother, feeling Ben’s presence next to him as he did so. He walked towards his sister, smiling as he did so offering a hand.

“Wanna come on walk with me?” He hugged her as he helped her up. “There will be crying and cigarettes!”

She gave him a concerned look as they walked in time and hopped up the stairs, not looking back to their clusterfuck of a family as they did so.


	2. Education

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben helps Klaus train his powers, but will he push himself too far or will he finally conjure Ben?

He took a deep breath, watching the smoke swirl away from his chapped lips. The cold air made his neck hairs stand on end as he pulled his coat closer to him, the weather had turned colder over the past week- one week since the notpocalypse. 

“Klaus! Come on, time for training!” Luther called from the homely warmth of the kitchen. He was beginning to vary his wardrobe as of late and was wearing a red athletic t-shirt with some black sweatpants, all of which had to be altered for his enlarged state. 

With a groan, Klaus put his cigarette out with his heel as he turned into the house and up the stairs to the entrance hall to train. He scanned his siblings, who were standing in a circle, as he made his way towards them. 

“Well if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I walked into a cult meeting!” Klaus exclaimed with a flourish of his hands and a twirl as he stepped in line. “Not that that’s a new experience for me, I think I got involved with a cult once,”

“I might regret asking this, but, when?” Five asked, who had already consumed four cups of coffee by eight o’clock in the morning. He was standing at the foot of the stairs and had a sour atmosphere about him.

Klaus scratched his stubble covered chin as he tried to remember his month in a cult. “Erm, about four years ago now, I knew some of the members from prison and needed somewhere to stay for a bit,” He laughed distantly, echoing slightly in the still entrance hall.

“You joined a cult for somewhere to stay?” Luther said, he’d been trying a lot more since their little argument in the kitchen about Vanya. He was beginning to realise how bad everyone’s lives had been, that he wasn’t the only one going through a tragedy. “Why couldn’t you just stay with one of us?”

“Well, I stayed there for around a month and you guys had all left me behind!” He exclaimed in response. “I mean, okay, I was a dick at times, getting high when I promised I wouldn’t,”

He glanced at Diego, Klaus couldn’t count how many times he’d promised to stay sober only for him to find him passed out on his bed with a needle in his arm the very same day. 

“For selling your stuff without your permission,”

Allison raised her eyebrows, the two had shared a place for a bit after Klaus had been to prison for the first time. His sister found rehabilitation a key part of recovery and realised how promising Klaus’ passion for fashion was. But, with a newfound love for needles and a lack of true caring for each other’s feelings, Klaus found himself selling more and more of Allison’s jewellery to fund his addiction.

“And for fucking strangers on your couch with no warning,”

Vanya gave him a weak smile. She too had offered Klaus a home, this time after his second time in prison, she’d helped him recover and was welcome to have some company. But while she had the orchestra and her violin tutoring as a coping mechanism, Klaus had drugs and sex. She’d let him off at first but eventually had gotten sick of waking up to bodies and the remnants of drugs, the only good thing coming out of the whole ordeal being good information for her book. 

“And for all of that I’m sorry, but you guys never saw when I was being real with you,” Klaus let some emotion slip into his voice. “You all thought that I was just high when I saw all the horrifying ghosts but couldn’t you hear it in my voice, see in my eyes, that I was being real,”

“Well-“ Luther started only to be cut off by his brother.

“No, no, I was a dick at times but so were all of you, you never took me seriously, never realised when I was in real danger and never saw that I was actually hurting,” Tears welled up in his eyes as he carried on his speech, hands shaking and clenching as he drew them to his chest. “You all gave up after Vanya, probably thinking that if even the ordinary one couldn’t help me then I was beyond help, so yeah, I had to join a cult for somewhere to stay,”

“You could’ve always come home,”

“I would’ve rather be brutally and slowly tortured and thrown into a well to die than come back here when Dad was alive,” A hum agreement followed Klaus’ statement, one of the few things the siblings could agree on was how bad their father had treated them. 

“Yeah but-“

“Don’t Luther,”

“I was just saying-“

“Don’t Luther!” Klaus exploded. “Let’s just get to training, alright?”

The siblings all looked at each other, one communal thought being shared, ‘ _Klaus never snaps!_ ’. All throughout their childhood, Klaus had been pretty much a pacifist. He never shouted at the siblings a lot, never fought like Luther and Diego. Even when he was at his worst, he would stay silent, maybe shooting a look or an insult if someone truly got on his nerves but he’d never fully broken down like that before.

Yet, just like he wanted, they moved on to training. Luther shuffled his feet and went onto the main topic. “So, if we all train in something that will benefit us in the long run, I think that’ll do us better than all doing the same exercise,” The group nodded in unison. “So, you guys can choose your training but maybe Allison, you could start to learn sign language, Five, you could learn how to refine your skill for predicting things and Klaus, maybe you could research your powers- now that you’re sober,”

Klaus weakly smiled at Luther and turned towards the main sitting room to find some books on mythology. Ben had read most of these books as a child, every time he’d been recovering from a mission he read at least three books in less than a week. 

As he strolled along, long black coat swooshing behind him, he pulled books from the gargantuas bookshelves and into his arms. 

“I never thought I’d see the day when we do something I want to do!” Ben exclaimed, hovering over his brother’s shoulder to read the titles of the books. “A long history of the Seance by Malorie Cartman, can we start with that one please,”

“Sure, I mean you’re the one who was most excited when I mentioned reading, so knock yourself out!” Klaus muttered, slightly annoyed as he overcame the insulting disbelief that his family showed him when talking about his past. ‘ _If only they knew everything,_ ’ he thought with a mental eyeroll. 

He opened the book and huffed, ready for a long day of boredom. The book was one of the newest in the bookshelves by their Father’s standards, Klaus was sure there was one from the sixteenth century somewhere in there. It had a plastic sleeve that pictured an outline of a person sitting cross-legged, orbs floating above their head on a fake parchment background.

“Chapter One, the Afterlife,” Ben read next to Klaus. His face looked strangely gleeful as he moved as close as he could to Klaus without phasing through him. “When one thinks of the Afterlife, what comes to mind? Heaven? Hell? Reincarnation?”

Slowly Klaus began to zone out, mind too full of dull cravings for a mystery drug and a heartbreaking longing for the sixties- both of which could never be quenched. He thought of how many men in his unit read to pass the time, be it letters, old books or comics, if you gathered every source of reading from the camp, you’d surely get a library. 

‘ _Richard would be so proud of me, he always preached the importance of books, little Tolkienist,_ ’ Klaus chuckled out loud to himself but soon shut up after Ben gave him a confused look.

“You find the deep rooted need people have for there to be an afterlife due to the fear that comes with the idea of nothing meaning anything, funny?” 

“Yeah,”

“Really?” Ben raised an eyebrow, a skill Klaus had always longed to own but never had. “Or were you thinking of something, or somewhere else?”

“Nope, totally laughing at whatever you just said,” Klaus crosses his arm childishly, pouting like a five year old to go with it.

Ben put the book aside for a moment and looked deep in Klaus’ eyes. He watched his brother shift uncomfortably under the intimidating gaze that he had developed over his years as a ghost. “Well that just tells me you had zoned out,”

Klaus moved his head towards the floor to try and move away from the attempts Ben would make to get Klaus to talk.

“You can talk to me, we’ve been through everything together,”

“Not everything,” Klaus replied.

“I guess, but you know you can trust me, right?” Klaus didn’t reply, only tried to turn himself around a bit. Ben sighed, wanting to hold Klaus’ knee and pull his face towards his. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Klaus mumbled, snuggling into the chair and grabbing the book from past Ben.

“Want me to carry on reading?” Ben asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Klaus smiled minutely and nodded, laying his head back against the overwhelming amount of cushions on their chosen sofa and let Ben’s voice almost lull him to sleep.

* * *

 It was a few hours later, they’d read a few chapters of their book, had some lunch as a break and were back at the training. Others, such as Luther or Diego, didn’t need to train for as long, having almost mastered their powers and strenuous training doing harm to their bodies. Klaus, however, could do multiple types of training; researching his powers, practicing his powers and looking into people to summon.

So here he was, sitting on the bottom stair, on a cushion with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. Ben was sitting quietly on the steps behind him, waiting for something to happen so he was able to touch Klaus or even be seen by their other siblings. 

“So what do I do?” Klaus asked, opening one eye and turning slightly to try and see Ben

Ben shrugged in response, standing and circling his brother. “I don’t know, concentrate on when I was alive or something,” He hopped down the stairs and collapsed into a cross-legged position facing his brother.

They hummed in unison, Klaus taking a deep breath before going “Ohmmm,” and raising his head towards the ornate glass roof.

“What are you a plant now?” Diego chuckled as he took a deep bite of his apple, his steps echoing about the large wooden hallway. “Didn’t know you needed to photosynthesise, bro,”

“Fuck off, Diego,” Klaus spat, seemingly channeling an annoyed energy that day, only getting a whistle in response as Diego tried to tread lightly up the stairs.

‘ _Ben. Alive. Ben. Alive._ ’ A drumming rhythm bounced around the Seance’s head as he scoured around for memories of his brother from his hazy memories. He scrunched his eyes in concentration as he felt himself reaching for a memory, a light that was always just out of his grasp.

Klaus took another deep breath while he tried to relax, one thing he had taken in from the books was that nothing could be done under stress. That no ghost or other worldly power would work if the medium themselves was stressed.

He plunged once again, deep into his memories, letting himself become disconnected from his surroundings as he felt himself float into the past. Years passed by in his mind’s eye. Images of secret birthdays spent together, mischief made and silent nights spent huddling from the demons- inside and out.

Klaus’ eyes bolted open as he snatched up a strong memory, vivid in his mind, He met eyes with Ben, who looked startled at the slight ethereal look about him, and began to recount it. 

“Do you remember our fifteenth birthday?” The ghost took a moment to recall what had happened fifteen years ago, half of Klaus’ life ago, when Ben had still been alive. “We had a mission that day, right?”

“Yeah, I think we did, I can’t remember the mission though,”

“Wanna know why?” Klaus gave a smirk and sat forwards, he had begun to clench and unclench his hands, ‘ _Probably to keep his concentration,_ ’ Ben thought.

“Sure,” He shrugged, brewing up a thousand wacky ways that Klaus may have had an influence in erasing his memories. “But if it has anything to do with the mission going wrong, you can forget it!”

“One, nice to know you have faith in me,” Klaus huffed and closed his eyes to concentrate on the lingering memory. “Two, we didn’t go to that mission, we snuck out for the day!”

Ben stroked his chin and raised his eyebrow, “Oh yeah, didn’t we go all over the city with Dad’s wallet?”

“Yup, we got milkshakes, went shopping and basically bought fifteen years worth of birthday celebrations in a day,” They laughed, reminiscing about a time when things were happy and easier, yet somehow so much worse. 

Their faces soon dropped though, as they continued to recall the day, “But Dad found out when we got home, of course,” Klaus’ voice was hoarse and morose, he opened his eyes and revealed to Ben that he was holding back tears. “You got shouted at but me, I spent a night in the Mausoleum,”

“I knew he’d taken you somewhere, we all suspected that your ‘special training’ wasn’t as nice as he made it sound,” A whisper came from Ben. For a while, all they did was reminisce, trying to hold onto the good but failing and falling into the deep pit of the bad. 

Until something changed.

They both noticed it. A small flicker of blue shot across Ben’s body, making the solemn atmosphere shatter- replaced with anticipation and fear. Without words, Klaus screwed up his face, thinking of that birthday, that memory all those years ago. His hands flattened out and extended to Ben, there was no need for a plan, the pair understood what they had to do.

A far off hum filled the once tense air, Klaus held his breath unknowingly, Ben begged to all higher powers that this would work.

 _Bzzz_. Another flash. Ben jolted as he pushed to try and touch his brother’s hands. 

‘ _This was it,_ ’ Klaus thought, getting excited at what this could mean for them. ‘ _I might actually conjure Ben for the first time, ever!_ ’

They got close, eyes snapped open and hands hovered within inches of each other. With bated breath, they tried to seal a grip or a graze onto their fingers. 

Nothing.

Ben sat back as Klaus readjusted his position, one nod to the other told them that they were both ready. Swooping in, invisible electricity flew through them as they tried again to touch hands.

Still nothing.

More time, more trying and even more failing. The exercise was getting old, their limbs tired and brains stretched. 

They gave up, Klaus’ hands were feeling distant, the sensation gently spreading up his arms, travelling through his shoulders and to his body.

“What’s happening?” He asked, not attempting to hide the wavering of his voice. “I feel fuzzy, and not the good, high kind of fuzzy,”

“Try and stay with me, Klaus, just focus on my voice,” Ben’s reassurance was useless, he was merely getting further and further away. 

Klaus felt like he was swaying, like a baby in the arms of its mother, or a twig on the endless blue oceans. He almost flew away, but also sank at the same time. 

Until it all ended with a _thud_ .  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loved writing this, the plot will be starting soon but there’s a few things that need to be set up soon. Hope you enjoyed this!


	3. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus begins to recover from collapsing and finally gives some insight into how he' truly feeling.

His eyes cracked open, like the seal of a treasure chest. Beeping was the first thing he heard, that and an obvious gasp from, was that Diego?

"You're finally awake!" His brother sat up, almost as though he'd been sitting there for hours. "How did you get like this? Why? When?"

Klaus blinked a few times, overwhelmed at the questions. He peered around his bed and saw the few tubes that were protruding from his pale skin. Ben was leaning forward as he sat, or maybe hovered, portraying his clear anguish and guilt on his face.

"Woah there Diego, gimme a second," Klaus said. Mistakenly, he shifted in his bed, out of instinct? Whatever he was doing it for, his head began to swim, spinning around briefly as Grace ran in to push him back down on the bed. "Erm, I tried to make Ben corporeal but I guess I overexerted myself and collapsed,"

Diego looked overrun with a strange mixture of laughter and disappointment, Ben shared his range of emotions as he silently shook his head. 

"Why would you do that?" He threw his hands in the air and turned around, completing that action a few times before sitting down again. "You haven't properly used your powers for years, doing that much in one go is just stupid!"

"Nice to know you have faith in me!"

Ben had stood up, having placed himself around Klaus' head as he paced to and fro, "He is right you know," was all he said as he continued his disconcerting cycle- eventually moving to pace in the area to Klaus' left. ' _ Of course he's with Diego, the loyal ghost apparently isn't that loyal, _ ' came his inner monologue.

Klaus liked to personify it sometimes, maybe a small version of him in a top hat with a monocle, or maybe in a robe like a Greek philosopher. 

"I do, I want you to hone your powers more than anyone but you can't jump directly into the deep end," Diego advised. "You don't go out and run a marathon when you haven't ran in years,"

They shared a moment, a small glimpse into where their relationship could possibly go, and smiled at each other. Even if his family were idiots who didn't understand him, and couldn't be bothered most of the time, it was nice to see at least Diego making a true effort. 

Grace re-entered the room looking effortlessly pretty and chic in her medicinal apron and gloves. As she walked, she halted before Ben and systematically moved around the invisible-to-everyone-else figure. The ghost looked at him, both sharing an equal thought, ' _ Can she see Ben? _ '.

"Now, Klaus, I am immensely proud of you for training with your powers again but, as Diego so eloquently put, you shouldn't do too much straight away," She wagged her finger comically as she carried on explaining what he should and shouldn't do over the next few days. "And most of all don't train for hours on end, build up your training,"

Diego chipped in with an eagerness of a child, clearly, probably because it was his area of expertise, "Yeah, start with maybe fifteen minutes and increase from there, and take a break every few days,".

* * *

From there Grace helped him stand up and get to his room, where he was safely deposited on his bed. Diego had been hauling him up the stairs too, making the deep pit of Klaus' insecurities flare up as he thought of how weak and helpless he seemed. 

"I prescribe one full day's bed rest and you should be fine by tomorrow, but take it easy during training," Grace's artificial happiness was evident in her voice, even though it did comfort him still, and she softly kissed his forehead before vacating the room. This left the three brothers, although two to Diego's knowledge, sitting in silence with only the sound of breathing to listen to. 

Diego sat down on the small pile of cushions near to the bed, he hunched over rather uncomfortably as he began to talk to his thin brother- now bundled under a thick pile of blankets. "Look, I know you may be a bit sick of the advice and pep talks but just let me say this and I'll let you rest," Klaus blinked a few times as an indicator that he was willing to listen. "Don't push yourself too much, everyone has limits, no matter how hard you try,"

"I know you want to try and conjure the one you lost-"

"Dave, his name was Dave," Klaus interjected, a decent sign on Diego's part because he was  _ finally  _ opening up about those elusive few days the assassins had taken him and after he'd escaped.

"Dave," He corrected, shuffling in his seat. "But I'm sure if he loved you as much as I can see you love him then he wouldn't want you to push yourself too hard just to conjure him,"

All Klaus did was blink, with those eyes that could look like glassy orbs or sly slits depending on how he felt. He grabbed the blankets and pulled them painfully slowly up his brittle body. The air was tense again, constricted as it entered Diego's lungs.

"You didn't know him," Was all he said while he began to turn over towards the wall.

"That's true,"

"So don't go all omniscient on me like you witnessed everything we went through," The breathy, raw sound of his voice sent shockwaves through his body, it amazed him that his brother could switch from happy to sad so easily. Although, as he thought back, he could always be feeling sad and be putting on an act. "You did the same when it came to Patch,"

"She was different."

"How?"

Diego sputtered, like it was the hardest question in the world. "I was doing that for revenge, but y-you can actually get him back, so if it were me, I'd work too hard too. Even if all I got was a minute," 

That made Klaus shoot back around, to stare daggers into his brother's eyes. "Really making me feel better, bro."

"You know what I mean, if he's waiting for you, he'll be able to wait a little longer if it meant you weren't hurting yourself to see him," Diego advised, wringing his hands together and pushing himself up off the cushions. He stepped over to Klaus, patted him on the shoulder and finished off the conversation. "Get some rest," 

He hummed and turned back around, shuffling the blankets up over his head as he attempted to get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter installment but I wanted to give you an update so here we go!
> 
> Also I love the idea that Grace can see Ben because she has the ability to see into the Realm of the Dead, or something? 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this!


	4. Breakthrough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Klaus reach a new milestone in their training.

The weather was shifting around the academy, it hadn't snowed all week and, apart from a few short spurts of rain, the sun was shining. Group training had begun again for the first time in years. Their goal for the time being was studying tactics, how they should change based on the enemy and play to each other's strengths. 

Klaus had taken more than a day's rest, in fact it had turned into a week once he'd reluctantly accepted the effects of withdrawal. It had been tricky, vomiting everything that he stomached was making his throat scratchy- and none of this was counting the shit he'd gotten from his family.

Deep down he could tell they wanted the best, during his days in bed he may have had a few fever dreams that made him realise how much of a shitty leach he had been to a  _ lot  _ of people. But the constant put downs of not training was breaking his spirit. How could he motivate himself to keep himself healthy, train his powers and try to conjure Dave when he had little to no support from anyone alive?

After his week of bedrest, Klaus had managed to fit in half an hour of training per day, with Sundays off, and some sewing practice with Mom around their surprisingly fun group training sessions. Familial relations were at a record high; they were even planning a shopping trip for a few days time. 

Klaus training had become particularly harder. Five was helping others as a kind of personal growth and was finding it harder than anyone else. From what he'd told the Seance, he'd done plenty of research into previous cases similar to Klaus'. 

"Come on! Focus on life, personify it as a flower or something, just focus!" He'd demanded, trying to explain how he could conjure Ben. "Imagine a flower illuminating, lighting up, that's Ben, come on!"

He'd said this so often it was repeating as a mantra around his head; it wasn't helping how Ben was making fun of Five all the time. 

A different aspect of his training that he was doing alive was summoning the dead. He would find someone deceased, hunt for a personal object and try to connect enough to pull them back into the realm of the living. So far, Klaus had gathered a small posse of ghosts, from mothers with axes in their skulls to empty eyed children.

One person who he'd been frightened to even consider conjuring was his father. This fear had lead to him hiding his attempts from his family, something that got half hearted protests from his dead brother. 

There had been one nice ghost he'd found, one of the few, apart from Ben, that Klaus had ever known- Angelou Morris. He'd found an ancient velvet vest with tassels, clearly from the Summer of Love, and had bought it immediately with the little cash he had. 

For hours he'd sat concentrating on summoning whoever had owned this, there was still dried blood on the back, very faintly. He'd thought of this soul as a flower, just out of reach in a lake, he'd stretch out and try to grab it in a hope that this would bring this ghost back. 

She had shone in the dry, wooden room he had sat in, her body was sculpted with a long pleated skirt and tie-dyed blouse, along with the very vest he was holding in his hands. Her casual dreadlocks were lightly blood splattered, along with the bandana that was only partially tying them back. She held a cigarette loosely in her hand as she curiously turned to take in her surroundings. One gunshot was inset into her forehead.

"Who are you?" She asked, finally focusing her dark brown eyes onto him.

"Klaus, I can control the dead, who are you?"

"Angelou Morris, but you can call me Angie," She outstretched a hand that he politely declined with an explanation that he wasn't able to make the dead tangible just yet. 

For a ghost who had been dead for around fifty years she was quite open minded and peaceful, her voice was rich and rough, creaky like one would associate with an aunt or a wise woman who had a dark past. Klaus felt appreciative for his powers for the first time in a long while. 

"So, when did you die?" He asked, trying to act calm and not like he'd finally conjured a sane ghost after endless attempts.

"1967,"

"Oh, the summer of love!"

She gave him a puzzled look, obviously they hadn't called it that when she'd been alive. 

"What year is it here?" Angelou was still moving around the room, taking in every nook and cranny and even daring to peer outside. "How long have I been dead?"

"It's 2019, so you've been dead for, what, fifty two years?" 

The pair continued talking for a long time, until the sky darkened and Klaus had ran out of stories to explain. Angelou joined Ben in a roster of ghosts that followed him around on a day to day basis. Over the few days since he'd conjured her, she'd made good use of Klaus being able to see her and was commenting on everything different she saw. He couldn't help but find it annoying, especially after how hard today had been.

The day has started early, with Diego and Luther actually agreeing on bringing the team for a run, followed by breakfast. To everyone's surprise, it was Allison and Vanya who complained about running before they'd had breakfast; Diego and Luther having been used to exercising early in the morning and Klaus' body being adapted to going days without a full meal.

Following this they were lulled to sleep by yet another few hours of Five teaching them tactics, only to make them practice them later. Klaus knew that this was necessary, that he needed to be able to use his powers with his team as well as being able to use them on his own, but he felt his brain stopping. The hours of concentrating and planning were making him feel disconnected, as if his soul was melting.

They'd only had a short break for lunch which was luckily succeeded by some time for themselves, albeit only for an hour. Then they had all decided to focus on their powers-  _ again _ . Klaus knew that this was for Vanya but he had the intuition that this was as much for him to train as it was for her.

Today he'd decided to try and banish ghosts, rather than summon them. Ben had suggested it as Klaus' newly found sobriety was attracting more and more horrifying ghosts. Finding somewhere with enough ghosts, however, was proving to be nearly as hard as the actual act of training. 

There was the Mausoleum, which was clearly ruled out for obvious reasons, maybe a few abandoned places, a prison and, of course, the hospital. Five had opted for the abandoned places option as it was the most available area to train without interruption. The others had gone with that idea, so that's where Klaus and his ghost clan went.

* * *

Their bus had been empty by the time they arrived, the forest was eerily quiet yet loud as he hiked up the hill. Plethoras of ghosts were huddled next to trees, sitting in them and running into the road- it took all of Klaus' willpower not to cry out for them to stop. 

Among the overgrown hedgerows, covered by tweeting birds and scuttling insects, was an old factory, infamous for its mistreatment of its workers. The doorway was empty and crowded by debris, parts of the roof were crumbling away as they hung down, leaving space for the sun to peek through. 

He stumbled and tripped through the corridors, crunching on rough bits of wood and drywall until he came to a large room. There was faded paint on the walls along with scrapes from years past, some work benches were left lying on the scratched floor- but most of the ground was filled with bits of doors or roofing.

They stood there for a few hours, imagining the ghosts flying away as he tried to repel them. It didn't work. He then tried to picture the factory itself, in its prime, with bustling workers everywhere and the echoing clangs of machinery. 

Soon, his mind drifted as he let himself walk through the memory. His soul shifted, almost like he was travelling to the factory itself. Klaus forgot when he stopped hearing Ben and Angie, when the wind was no longer blowing on his face and the birds fluttered away. 

He opened his eyes and saw that he was in the factory. Or rather an inky version of it.

The workers were thick, black, blob-like silhouettes, standing in the exact places of the ghosts. The walls seemed to drip upwards, as paint would off a surface.

He gasped, "Was this what Dad was saying when he said I had potential?" 

The ghosts necks snapped at him, their eyes glowing white as they approached him. Groans of their usual catchphrases whipped around his head, their slimy ink covering his feet and spreading up his legs.

He needed to get rid of them. Now.

His hands clenched at his sides. He furrowed his brow as he screamed mentally for them to leave.

"Go!" They carried on dragging themselves towards him. "Leave!"

The ghosts showed no signs of stopping as the ink climbed up his thighs and around his hips. He was stuck in place. Shakily, he dragged his hands across his chest and took in a deep breath.

He gulped, and then yelled as he pushed his hands towards them. "Go!" 

All the ghosts shuddered in place, some slopped back into the clean ink of the floor. The sticky stuff climbing up his legs broke off and shattered before oozing back into the floor like some of the ghosts had. 

He yelled again and more ghosts were thrown off balance. He continued, throat going tight and raw, hands shaking and sweat forming on his brow as he pushed himself over into the sheets of ink around him.

Klaus felt like he'd awoken from a deep dream. A dream so nightmarish that he couldn't describe it but slightly satisfying so that he wanted to return. He wanted to feel that power again.

Then he noticed he was truly alone. No stranger ghosts. No Angie. No Ben. 

He'd done it. He'd banished the ghosts. All of them.

He smiled guiltily to himself as he stood up from the ground he'd fell on and dusted himself off. The quiet was present now, without the moans of dead workers surrounding him, he could feel the kind of relief he only got with drugs. Yet he was sober.

With this new found happiness, he climbed his way out of the factory, onto the bus and home- where he promptly collapsed in bed.

* * *

The moon hung in the sky when his eyes cracked open again. Goosebumps covered his eyes as he realised he hadn't even been able to go under the covers when he returned home. 

' _ What time is it? _ ' He thought as he peeked at the clock next to him. Two-thirty am. He swung his legs off the bed, pulled on a multicolored cardigan and set off to find something to eat. 

As he walked down the cold steps, he played the events of training in his head. Where was that place? Had he created it or had it been waiting there all his life, wanting to be discovered. Whatever it was, it was interesting and that curiosity alone was powering him to train more. 

The kitchen was empty and quiet, it now occurred to Klaus that he didn't know when the ghosts were coming back. He grabbed a bag of chips and lit up a cigarette as he opened to the back doors, mumbling about lasting ten months without him.

"Nice to know you've missed me," Ben's voice came from behind him as he sat next to his living brother. "I might as well go then if you can last without me,"

"No!" He said, arms outstretched as the ghost leaned away. "Well, you know, I had Dave, I couldn't last without either of you," The pair chuckled to themselves, carrying on discussing the training, from both points of view.

As they laughed, the moon drifted across the sky, stars blinked and twinkled in the black galaxy. Klaus became tired again, having training far too much in one day, and stopped his conversation abruptly. The lit stump of a cigarette fell from his hand as his head slumped onto Ben's shoulder.

Neither mentioned or noted the blue hue pulsing through Klaus' hands, they simply enjoyed the comfort. Ben smiled to himself as his brother drifted off to sleep, he'd wanted to do this for so long. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was tricky at the start and I wanted to make it shorter but then I got to the training scene I couldn't stop. Hope you enioyed this!


	5. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a busy day at the mall, the siblings bond.

As far as days go, this one had been the best, sure, they'd argued and bickered a bit but, all siblings do that! 

They'd began the day by having a hearty breakfast of pancakes with waterfalls of maple syrup and plenty of fruit. Next, they got ready, in fashionable but comfy outfits- well as fashionable as Luther could get. Klaus had invaded Allison's closet and found a pleated cotton skirt which he matched with a graphic tee and his signature coat. The car ride had gone smoothly too, with them splitting themselves into two cars. 

First they went to a few shops for Five, who they collectively decided was in the most need of a makeover. Klaus had asked where they were going, realising that Five had no money when Allison pulled out a black American Express card and pulled them through three designer stores to dress their brother.

Next was Luther, the most timid about his sizes, who went for more of a grungy, hipster look by picking out large jumpers, trench coats and making a generally casual-smart look. Diego was convinced by Klaus to pick out a few outfits that weren't making him verge on public indecency with the leather harnesses. He picked out some more trendy pieces combined with some edgier pieces- or thottier as Klaus had put it.

The other three, or four for Klaus, did a bit of shopping here and there. Allison went in some designer shops, Vanya went to the most androgynous shops they could find and Klaus found himself drifting through thrift stores.

Ben had also been pestering his brother to buy him some things since he was able to become corporeal now, "Klaus, just a bucket hat, please, wouldn't I look good in a bucket hat?"

"Yeah, you would," He replied, finally giving in by slamming said Canary Yellow hat onto the counter along with the few tops and accessories he'd picked up. "But just because I'm a god of fashion and my word is truth, not because you deserve it, not after all the pestering you've done today,"

Once they were all sufficiently tired, they trailed back to the cars to drive home and order some Chinese food.

* * *

"Why did you not expect her to call the cops?" Allison exclaimed, taking a long sip of her wine. 

Diego cocked an eyebrow, clearly not enjoying the criticism of his vigilante career. "I was saving her from burglars!" He said.

"Yeah, by breaking into her house," Vanya commented.

"But-"

Klaus chuckled and drank from his lemonade, telling his brother that he'd lost the battle and to give up with a heavy sigh that made his siblings look shocked. Even on his worst days, he'd never seemed so defeated. 

Surprisingly, Five was the one to question him first, "What's up?"

He looked up from where he was staring at the floor, "Hmm?", a slight look of shock covered his face.

"I said, what's up?"

"Nothing," He hummed, beginning to pick at the hem of his shirt. "Why do I look sad?"

"Yeah," Diego said. He stood up and moved to sit next to his brother, putting his arm around him. "You can tell us,"

Klaus cocked a eyebrow, hesitated for a moment before deciding to humour his siblings. He shifted on the chair, crossing his legs then sighing. "I'm missing Dave,"

There was a murmur from his siblings, Vanya shifted forward and looked ready to listen, the other siblings followed suit. 

"Wow, no questions?" Klaus sounded shocked. "Well, I better go from the start. When Hazel and Cha Cha ransacked the house, they took me for answers on Five. They had me for over a day, no one came" He added in a tone filled with acid. "So, after Patch helped me, I grabbed the briefcase and ran,"

“I got onto a bus and opened it,” He took a deep breath, preparing himself to talk about the joy and pain that came with Vietnam. Scanning the room, he saw Diego looking oddly nauseous at the mention of Patch- his grief still fresh. “Then landed slap bang into the middle of the Vietnam War,

This caused his siblings to explode into questions like ‘Why did you stay?’, ‘How have we not heard about this?’ and even a ‘When is Dave going to come into this?’ from Luther. Klaus heaved again, willing up the most basic amount of courage he could and began to explain in depth about Vietnam. 

He started by explaining why he stayed, how bombs were dropped within seconds of his butt hitting the floor and how Dave was the first soldier to introduce himself. Next, came the inevitable ramble of how immensely marvelous he was, starting with his patience, hope, open mind, great laugh and ending on his wondrous good looks until Ben cleared his throat to tell him to move on. 

“Dave was special, he taught me how to shoot, made the other guys lay off me about being so weird and, well, after just over a month, we, er, kissed,” He hid his face slightly as his cheeks flushed.

The recollection of that magical night filled his mind, the may that connected even more, the alcohol fuelling their deep desires. At one point, Klaus had said some dumb joke about the poor dance skills of a fellow soldier, nicknamed Pope for his strict religious views, and Dave slopped his whisky all down his front, causing them to try and find the bathrooms- a trip that was unsuccessful. The secluded corner they found themself in gave them enough privacy to talk about more intimate subjects- like each other and their pasts. After Klaus had given quite an emotional monologue about how little people cared about him. All Dave has to say was ‘Well, I care about you,’ with a hand on his cheek for them to kiss.

With a shake of his head, he broke from his nostalgic daydream to continue explaining his time in Vietnam, going on to describe how they get closer and managed to remain together despite the illegal nature of their relationship. 

“Why have you stopped?” Vanya asked as Klaus abruptly went into silence, concentrating on not crying as he procrastinated the final part of his and Dave’s story. 

He shook his head, refusing to talk about  _ that.  _ The echoing memories of his hollow screaming forcing his mouth shut. His eyes watered and his lip quivered. All his  mind was telling was ‘ _ Get out of here, _ ’. 

“Klaus, why did you stop?” This time Diego spoke, his tone sweet and caring.

“It’s too painful,”

Allison’s face turned into a mixture of sympathy and worry, her too knowing of the pain that came with losing someone. She quickly wrote down, “Why?”

His hands were beginning to quiver, every part of him was begging him to leave, that if he told them of this painful time that they would use it against him. But, despite all this, he told them in the most basic way he could, “It’s Vietnam, what do you think happened to him?” as the tears tipped onto his face and dripped onto his neck. 

The next five minutes were a blur, all he could honestly remember was the shouts of his sibling and the dropping feeling of his stomach as he ran to his room to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was meant to be a lot longer than this turned out to be, Klaus and Five were meant to explore their powers combined by showing some of Klaus' time in Vietnam but I guess I haven't been in a writing kind of mood this week as this entire chapter was really hard to write, so hope you're not disappointed!  
> Hope you enjoyed this!

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is greatly appreciated, your comments and kudos give me life!


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